Van Eck says this is a reversal of the trend he saw in 2017, when the then-sizzling bitcoin pulled demand from gold during the crypto bull market.

"I do think that bitcoin pulled a little bit of demand away from gold in 2017," Van Eck told CNBC (video below). "Interestingly, we just polled 4,000 bitcoin investors. And their No. 1 investment for 2019 is actually gold. So gold lost to bitcoin [before], and now it's going the other way."